


The Last Slow Song

by thepocketdragon



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, bechloe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 23:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29617407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepocketdragon/pseuds/thepocketdragon
Summary: Just a few months after graduation, the Bellas reunite for a very special celebration. All the romance in the air might just be the push Beca and Chloe need to admit their feelings. If only Beca can find the right song to say it with.Bechloe one shot. Set after PP2.
Relationships: Ashley Jones/Jessica Smith, Chloe Beale & Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 17
Kudos: 112





	The Last Slow Song

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a cute little something that poured out of my head pretty much fully-formed.
> 
> Also, I apologise for the sheer amount of '90s love songs mentioned. They will get stuck in your head.
> 
> Title and inspiration from "Dancin' Away with my Heart" by Lady A.

The announcement of Ashley and Jessica’s engagement had not been a surprise. Beca can still remember the steady build-up of their relationship over four years of college. She can remember how naturally they seemed to move from shy smiles to holding hands to openly kissing in front of their friends. There had never been any doubt in her mind that they would end up tying the knot. In fact, in the far depths of Beca Mitchell’s mind- which is the only place she will admit for having a soft spot for romance and the idea of true love, Ashley and Jessica’s relationship is exactly what she would like to envision having in the future.

A girlfriend, fiancée, wife, who is also her best friend.

It seems simple, and it could be, especially since Beca knows exactly who that person is in her mind. If only she could say it out loud.If only she could admit to anyone but herself that Chloe Beale is everything she has ever and will ever need in a partner, all wrapped up an adorable, red-headed package.

“Bec, do you think this is too much for an engagement party?”

Beca’s eyes meet Chloe’s in the mirror. It takes her a moment to shift her focus away from her face and onto her outfit. It’s classy, that’s for sure, but it isn’t overly formal. Plus, the cropped top, flashing just a teasing hint of her taut, tanned abs, paired with a patterned pencil skirt sits perfectly on the line between ‘party’ and ‘wedding’. It doesn’t hurt that the skirt hugs every single one of Chloe’s delicious curves in a way that makes Beca’s mouth slacken.

“Yeah… you, you look great.”

“It’s just, I don’t go to many engagement parties so I wasn’t sure if it was a formal thing or not. Like, do I dress as if I’m going to prom or as if I’m going to the Spring Fling dance at elementary school?”

Beca shakes her head. “I take it there was a big difference between them in Florida?” She shuffles closer to Chloe as she talks, smoothing her hair over her shoulders and adjusting the straps on her deep v-neck, sleeveless jumpsuit. She knows she looks good, and the way she catches Chloe looking in the mirror gives her an extra boost of confidence.

“Oh, for sure. Prom was, like, super fancy and formal. Elementary school dances were a little more wild. There was definitely more hair mascara and body glitter. And we wore cute tops and skirts and pretended like we were the Spice Girls. We didn’t go with dates because, well, we were nine, but at the end of the night all the boys would go and ask a girl to dance and the DJ would play ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from Titanic. We’d basically just stand there and sway but who people danced with was honestly the talking point of the class for the next month.”

“Isn’t that, like, a super sad song to pick?” Beca has actually seen Titanic. Possibly more than once. She’s also pretty certain she learned how to play that particular song on the flute when she was a kid. “It’s from a disaster movie.”

“It was romantic, though.”

Beca can’t help but roll her eyes. “Pretty sure the main guy dies. Weird sentiment for a slow dance. Especially between two kids.”

When she sees Chloe’s eyes in the mirror, there is a slight fire to them. It’s something Beca has grown familiar with. In her gut, she knows a challenge is coming. The way Chloe licks her lips slightly before she speaks is enough to tip Beca off that this could very easily turn into a bickering argument. “Well, what song would you rather it have been? It was 1999. I’ll let you go back to, say, ’96. It’s got to be a classic ‘90s love ballad. Nothing too obscure, alright?”

Beca- as Chloe knows- has a fairly solid knowledge of music trivia. It’s been tested on many a game night. Beca is certain that Chloe is challenging her to find a song. A love song from between 1996 and 1999 that could be slow danced to.

It’s an invitation, a flirtatious challenge, but Beca knows it could be so much more.

She wants it to be so much more.

Which means it can’t just be any song, it has to be _the_ song.

The song that says it all.

It is then that Beca bows and decides to play along with Chloe’s little game. With one hand on the small of her back, fingers just brushing over the line of bare skin she finds there, she leans in. “When I hear it, you’ll know.” Chloe seems flushed but Beca can’t tell if it’s the wine they’ve been sipping whilst getting ready or the words. Smiling, she looks her up and down in the mirror. “You look good by the way. So, so good.” She counts to three and checks again.

Definitely not just the wine.

* * *

The bar the girls have hired out is teeming with people by the time Beca and Chloe make it from their hotel. Everyone is in good spirits, which isn’t a surprise given that this is the first time they’ve seen each other since graduation, two of their friends are getting married and it’s a week before Christmas. The sparkling decorations the hotel have put up only seem to add to the sense of occasion.

“Oh my God, you two look gorgeous!” It is Ashley who walks over to them first, the glass of Champagne in her hand clearly not her first. “How are you?” They hug. It is the start of a trend as each of the Bellas approaches their former captains one by one. Beca doesn’t miss how each one comments on the novelty of being able to hug her without her shuffling away. She also doesn’t miss the glances they all seem to shoot between her and Chloe as if she has something to do with it.

It is Cynthia-Rose, once they are all perched on one of the corner couches, who finally leans across and hands her a glass of wine before asking the question Beca has been anticipating. “So, has the apartment been quiet without Amy these last couple weeks?” The group chat between them all is still as active as it has ever been, and with Amy back in Australia for an extended summer vacation and Christmas with her family, there had been absolutely no subtlety to the comments about Beca and Chloe being left home alone. In fact, some of Amy’s messages had been so viscerally descriptive that Aubrey had threatened a full Bellas cardio workout over FaceTime if she didn’t at least tone it down.

“It’s been weird. Like, waking up and not feeling immediately nervous about who or what might crawl out from Amy’s side of the room. It’s been… freeing.” Beca’s mind is on other things. Namely, she’s trying to remember the lyrics to ‘Because You Loved Me’ by Celine Dion to judge whether it would be an appropriate choice for a slow dance.

“She sent us a really nice bouquet that arrived this morning. And a bottle Boone’s Farm for old time’s sake.” Jessica is positively glowing. Seeing how she sits next to Ashley, their hands intertwined, Beca can’t help the rush of warmth she feels. She’s smiling, not only because of how adorable they are, but because she knew Amy would do something like this. There was no doubt in her mind that the girl was completely full of shit when she had shrugged at the invitation from Ashley and Jess- knowing she would be missing out- and had said “I have no idea who they even are.” Amy had never been good at admitting the truth, especially if she was disappointed about something. Underneath it all, she was a loyal friend and she loved them all dearly, even if she had a strange way of showing it sometimes.

“Does she have a job yet?”

Chloe shakes her head. “She’s still trying to break into lookalike work, but the agent won’t have it that she’s a shoe-in for Christina Aguilera. Or Madonna. Apparently, she’s working on an Amy Winehouse tribute act now.” Reaching forwards, she takes a sip from her glass. “Anyway, she pays the rent on time somehow, so whatever she gets up to in the day is not my problem. Well, not unless it’s something horrifically illegal.”

Once the conversation turns to work, to catching up on graduate recruitment and living back in parents’ houses or sharing apartments in the city, Beca feels herself relax even more. She can admit, now, how much she misses these girls; how important they have been in making her the person she is. Chief among them, of course, is Chloe. Chloe who has stuck by her and who champions her and makes her feel invincible even when she’s working an entry-level assistant job in a crappy recording studio and can barely make ends meet. Chloe who knows how to approach her when she’s sad and which kind of tea she likes when she’s sick. Chloe who is everything Beca could possibly ever need, or want.

Somehow, Beca thinks ‘Because You Loved Me’ won’t quite work. It’s too focussed on the past. She needs something that talks more to everything they _could_ be than to who they already are.

“Alright, pitches, who’s ready to get their dance on?”

Beca knows she is nowhere near buzzed enough to get on the dance floor. She watches as Chloe gets up from beside her to join Flo, Stacie and Cynthia Rose. She watches until she feels a hand press on her shoulder.

“She looks good. I think New York suits her.”

Aubrey is leading her down a path she’s reluctant to follow, but Beca finds herself agreeing.

“I’m glad she followed her heart instead of her head and went with you.”

Beca nods.

“Are… are you finding it ok living together? I know Chloe can be a bit much at times.”

_You have no idea_ Beca thinks. Living with Chloe is so far removed from what she had expected it to be. Without the pressure of captaining the Bellas, they have a lot of free time together, but it doesn’t feel pressurised. Chloe lets Beca work on her music, Beca gives Chloe space to work out. They have conversations about money and politics and everything in between and everything feels… real. They’ve grown even closer, and all it’s done is prove to Beca that the feelings she’s been harbouring since early into her freshman year are far more than just a crush. It’s proven just how well they work together; how easily they fit. The words in her head that she has tried to hold down are moments away from overflowing each and every time she thinks about it. Even when Amy comes crashing through the door with a new black beehive wig under her arm and a story about the guy on the subway who definitely wanted to ask her out, it’s comfortable to stay close to Chloe, to laugh and smile and joke with her by her side.

Beca has never felt more like herself.

“It’s good, actually. I mean, the apartment is obviously far too small for three people and- for now- we’re still sharing the pull-out in the living room, but it’s good. It’s… really good.”

There is a knowing look in Aubrey’s eye as she raises one eyebrow in Beca’s direction. “Yeah? It’s good sharing a bed with Chloe?”

A burning flush rushes over Beca’s cheeks. There are photos on the group chat which can attest to the fact that sharing a bed with Chloe has resulted in them sleeping wrapped up together on more than one occasion. Amy even has footage of them drinking coffee in bed, still leaning into one another.

Beca doesn’t know if she’s being selfish by admitting it, but she doesn’t want it to change. She wants it to stay like that forever.

_Until the sky falls down on me._

“1997.” It is only when Aubrey catches her eye that she realises she’s said it out loud. “Sorry, it’s just some stupid game Chloe’s making me play. I, ah, have to come up with a song that…”

“Don’t change the subject, Beca. You’re sharing a bed with Chloe, I’ve just caught you watching her ass as she struts her way to the dance floor and as soon as I talk about living with her, you’re blushing.” Aubrey is a friend, now. A good friend. She understands Beca in a way she never expected her to. They have far more in common than they had first realised. Maybe that’s why Aubrey understands. Why she feels comfortable being the one to broach the subject. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

Beca’s first instinct is to laugh. It’s funny because even she doesn’t completely understand what is going on. She’s feeling her way through all of this, stumbling down a rocky path in the vain hope that there’s something worth the journey waiting at the end of it. Her second instinct is to shake her head.

“I’m going to need a little more courage before I cross that bridge.”

Aubrey pats her shoulder gently and slips out of her seat, walking across the edge of the dance floor. Beca, alone for the first time in a long time, tries her best to go over the lyrics to Savage Garden’s ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ while watching Chloe dance. She thinks it could work. She thinks that, maybe, it says what she wants to say. It definitely has the words to explain how she feels on the inside.

A small glass full of clear liquid is placed down on the table in front of her. Beca looks up, torn from her thoughts, into Aubrey’s determined face.

“What’s this?”

“Courage.” Aubrey winks at her.“Drink up.”

* * *

Beca is halfway through the world’s strongest vodka tonic- thanks Aubrey- when the music fades out. Ashley’s dad takes to the microphone at the far end of the bar and taps his glass.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you could all take a seat, I’d like to say a few words.”

Before Beca knows what is happening, Chloe has walked back over to her and perched herself on her lap. Instinctively, Beca’s hands wrap around her waist to hold her steady and she leans in close, resting her head on Chloe’s shoulder so that she can see what is going on.

As Ashley’s dad begins to speak, she tries her best to ignore the glances Aubrey, Cynthia Rose and probably all of the other girls are throwing their way.

“Most of you know that this night has been a long time coming. I can remember Ash calling me way back in her first year of college and telling me she’d auditioned for a singing group. About a week later, she called again and we could tell from the look on her face that she was excited. She told us the news that she’d been accepted and that, at the party that followed their introduction, she had met a girl called Jessica. Ash has never been one for words, but she couldn’t stop talking about this girl. How beautiful she was, how amazing her voice was. I think both Helen and I knew, then, that Ashley had found someone truly special. And, when she asked to bring her home for thanksgiving the following year, we knew Ashley was head over heels in love. Jess- you have made our baby girl the happiest she has ever been. We were so worried about her going off to college so far away from home, but we knew she was safe with you. And we know she always will be. We love you like a daughter and we are honoured that you said ‘yes’ to becoming a part of our family.”

Beca’s breath shudders as she tries to hold back tears. She feels Chloe’s hand wrap around hers, squeezing it tightly.

“We are so proud of both of you for being exactly who you are. You make us proud every day with the way you face the world and the way you encourage one another to grow. We know you’re going to be happy together and we know that the wedding will be the party of the year!”

Ashley’s dad raises his glass. “Alright, let’s have everyone on the floor! DJ, if you please!”

As soon as the music begins again, Beca feels herself being pulled onto the dance floor. The rest of the Bellas are already up, and she’s in no position to fight it. In fact, she doesn’t want to. She wants to have fun with these girls, to jump around and shout the lyrics to the songs that were the soundtrack to the best four years of their lives. And so she does. She lets loose and finds herself rapping along with Stacie to 50 Cent (2003) and screaming along to Mr Brightside (2004). When ‘Run the World’ (2011) comes on, it begins with a collective grin across the Bellas group and ends with them trying their best to do their signature clapping routine with drinks in their hands.

Before they know it, the night is starting to draw to a close. The older guests- Ashley and Jessica’s family mainly- have said their goodbyes and have headed back to their hotels or to their houses. Some of them take a break to head to the bar for another round and, when Beca turns back to check who is left the dance floor, she sees how Ashley and Jessica are stood together, just holding one another as the world goes by around them.

Putting down her glass, she jumps to her feet.

“You ok?” Chloe asks her in a way that makes Beca’s heart sing.

“I’m good. Just… got to do something.”

She tries her best to ignore Chloe’s inquisitive stare as she walks across the dance floor to the DJ booth. From her bag, she hands him a USB stick before pulling him close to whisper in his ear.

“What was that?” Beca knows Chloe doesn’t like secrets. She at least hopes she’ll appreciate this one.

“Nothing. Just… you’ll see.”

Another couple of songs play as they all sit around, resting their feet and cooing at how adorable Ashley and Jessica are. Aubrey and Stacie have moved away and are catching up with a few people from college who used to go to the same yoga class as them. Cynthia-Rose, Flo and Emily are still singing along to the music but have given up on dancing.

Chloe finishes her drink at the same time as Beca puts her empty glass down on the bar.

As the familiar notes of a song Beca knows incredibly well ring out, she stands and holds out her hand. There are no words. She doesn’t need them. Instead, she simply pulls Chloe to her feet.

“I’ve been asked to play this song for Ashley and Jessica.” The DJ fades the beginning of the tune down as he speaks into his microphone. “This is a mix by Beca, who says she can’t wait to find what you two have.”

A collective ‘aww’ from the other Bellas is enough to make Beca blush. Chloe tilts her head, looking at her inquisitively. The familiar guitar chords of Extreme’s ‘More than Words’ begin and the lyrics flow from the speakers. “Bec, did you request this? Is… what year was it released?”

They are close enough, as they begin to swing their conjoined hands in time to the music, for Beca to whisper in her ear. “1990” she says gently. Slowly, the telltale voice of Tracy Chapman joins the mix as ‘Baby Can I Hold You’blends effortlessly with the tune, creating a symphony that is full of romance and love. A symphony of Beca’s creation. It takes everything not to sing the lyrics into Chloe’s ear. “1988” she whispers. “It was covered in 1997, but that would be cheating.” Chloe’s gentle nod causes her hair to brush against Beca’s bare shoulder. “But this is for them. I… I made it for them. I wanted to give them something special. Maybe something they could use at the wedding.”

Beca isn’t exactly known for being romantic, but she can do big gestures and big feelings when music is there to support her. It’s her language and it’s her armour. Everything feels like it makes more sense when it’s sung. At least, that’s what she hopes. Taking a deep breath, she turns to face Chloe and pulls her in close, wrapping her arms around her and beginning to gently sway their bodies to the music as she speaks.

“I made it for them,” Beca is suddenly thankful for the glass or two full of courage flowing through her system, “but I was thinking of you the whole time. I… I wanted to find a song to tell you what goes on in my head when I look at you.” The way Chloe tightens her hold on Beca’s waist is the only way she knows she’s being heard over the music. “And then you challenged me. I… I’ve been thinking about it all night but I think…” the tune begins to play, just at the right moment. “I think this says it all.”

It is only when the song reaches the line ‘I need to tell you, how you light up every second of the day’ that Chloe looks in her eyes.

“1997” Beca says with a smile. “I asked him to play it after to give me the time to explain.”

There are tears in Chloe’s eyes, but she pulls herself back in and begins to lead Beca as they sway. All Beca can do, all she wants to do, is whisper each and every lyric into Chloe’s ear like it is poetry.

Like it was written for her.

“It’s a feeling I get about you, deep inside.”

Maybe, she thinks, it was.

After all, Chloe is the only person she thinks of when she hears it.

Chloe is the person who makes the words real. Who gives them meaning.

“It isn’t just the way you look tonight” she says as gently as she can, trying to keep her nerve. “But I meant it when I said you looked good. You… you’re beautiful, Chloe. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

Chloe’s head is still resting on her shoulder. Beca is sure she can feel a damp patch.

“Is… is that okay?”

When Chloe lifts her head to look at her, tears are gently rolling down her cheeks. Beca takes her hand and gently wipes them away. Their eyes are locked on one another. The music is still playing, a different but still-slow song echoing around the room, but it’s dulled. Everything is dulled.There are no other people, no other sounds. It is just them.

Chloe’s hand trails up Beca’s arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. When she reaches her jaw, she takes the loose strands of Beca’s hair and tucks them gently behind her ear. Her fingers rest there for a moment, her thumb tracing over the metal bar as Chloe cups her hand over her cheek and pulls her close.

The moment their lips touch, there is silence.

All Beca can feel is the sensation of Chloe’s kiss. Her soft lips part slightly, taking Beca’s lip between them. It’s slow and gentle and everything she dreamed it would be. When they pull apart, Chloe smiles.

“It’s more than okay, Bec. It… it’s everything. You’re everything.”

_You’re everything._

Beca knows, even as they are brought back into the moment by a hoard of screaming, screeching girls and the reality that at least one of them has filmed their first embrace, she will never forget those words.

Never.

* * *

“Why say it with flowers when you can say it with Elton John? Proud of you BM.” Aubrey reads out Amy’s message to the group. Flo had sent her a photo of their kiss. That message is the first coherent sentence she has produced after sending eight lines in a row of complete and utter nonsense. “Oh, and she says please don’t have sex on her bed.”

Beca knows she’s blushing. Chloe’s firm hand on her shoulder rubs over her skin as she leans in and buries her face in her hair.

“Aww I can’t believe you’re going shy now. You’ve just done this whole display to prove how much game you’ve got.”

“I’ve got game. I’m just… really sleepy.” It isn’t a lie. Beca is, suddenly, exhausted. “It’s been a long day, alright?”

Aubrey is the one to look at her and shake her head. “Honey, it’s been a long four years waiting for this to happen, let me tell you.”

They have only kissed once. They haven’t talked about anything. Yet, Beca is struck by the way everything feels as if it fits. As if everything had been leading up to this. Chloe’s hand is laced with hers, holding onto her as they sit through one last round of drinks and soak up the rest of the quality time they have with their friends, and it just feels… right.

“Where are Ashley and Jess?” Beca’s eyes have scoured the bar area.

“They snuck out a while ago.”

“Good for them.” Beca picks up her glass, the one she swears will be her last for the night, and holds it aloft. “Well, I guess we can toast them anyway.”

Aubrey copies her and lifts up her drink. “I think we’ve got more than just them to toast.” She smiles sweetly, gently, in Beca and Chloe’s direction. “To the power of a good love song.”

Beca clinks her glass with Chloe before leaning in and stealing a sweet, second kiss.

“To you.”

“To you.”

“Well, it may have taken four years for us to get to this point, but I’ve seen enough to last me another four. Come on girls, let’s call it a night and let these two get their Sappho on.” This time, it is Chloe who blushes at Stacie’s words. “We’ll see you tomorrow for brunch, right? Before you go home?”

“Yeah. The table’s booked for 11.”

They break apart to hug everyone goodnight. When Aubrey reaches Beca, she pulls her in tight. “I’m proud of you” she whispers. “I’m glad you found your courage.”

“Me too. Thank you.”

It’s possibly the most heartfelt moment they have ever had between them, the alcohol making them both much more open with their feelings, but it’s nice. Beca- like she always has with these girls around her- feels safe. Safe to be exactly who she wants to be.

“See you in the morning!”

As soon as they find their jackets and walk out into the cold, reality hits. They are alone. And everything has changed.

“Were… were you always planning on doing that tonight?” Chloe asks.

Beca shrugs. She isn’t sure. Maybe, on some level, she had hoped that being alone without Amy would have given her a chance to say something, but she had spent so long keeping her feelings buried deep within herself that a longer wait was never going to be an issue.

“I don’t think I was. But you challenged me to find a love song and, well, I’m kind of sick of skirting around this. I… I was kind of sick of not being able to find the right words.”

“I think you found them.”

“Yeah?”

Chloe hails a cab before smiling in Beca’s direction. “It was the perfect choice. Thank you for dancing with me.”

* * *

The twin room they had booked for their trip down to Atlanta feels silly, now. Beca glances at the beds as she pulls off her coat and kicks her heels off her aching feet. Even platonically, she is used to sharing a bed with Chloe. It would be strange enough to sleep without her before. It would be even weirder now.

Chloe hasn’t sat down, that’s the first thing she notices. Chloe has taken her coat and her shoes off, but she’s leaning against the desk against the far wall with a look in her eye that Beca isn’t sure she has ever seen before.

She has certainly never seen in when she has been the only person in the room.

“So, I have a question.”

Beca nods, suddenly incredibly nervous.

“How many other songs do you have in your head that remind you of me?”

If Beca could come up with a numerical answer, she knows it would be embarrassingly high. There isn’t a song, a lyric, that resonates her that doesn’t in some way remind her of Chloe. Sometimes it’s something about beauty. Or the ocean. Or the sun. Sometimes, it’s an on-the-head reference to love in any and every form.

One thing connects all of the songs that come into her head. It’s all in the way they make her feel.

“A… a lot” she finally confesses. “But, ah, I do have some favourites. Some other songs I was thinking of tonight that didn’t quite make the cut. Either because they were from the wrong year or because you couldn’t really slow dance to them- especially not in elementary school.”

Chloe pulls her phone from her purse and holds it out. “Will you play one for me? Any year is fine.”

It’s a choice Beca can’t really make. There is a song that says it all, everything in her heart, but it’s full of words she isn’t quite sure they are ready for. Or, possibly, one word in particular. Taking a breath, mentally registering that she still has a couple ounces of courage running through her system, she presses play.

“The… the original was 1989. There was a cover in 1991, but you can’t beat Van Morrison.” Beca catches Chloe’s eye. The way she smiles makes her heart race. The fact that Chloe enjoys this part of her, this nerdy part of her that can remember artists and release dates, is just further proof that she is special. Chloe is important. She’s everything.

Suddenly, the words that are about to sit in the air around them don’t feel so scary.

The song begins with a gentle piano melody. Chloe takes the phone and puts it down on the desk, before reaching out for Beca. “Dance with me.”

It feels so natural to put her arms around Chloe and to move to the music. It feels like they’ve been doing this for years, dancing in bare feet against the dark Atlanta skies, cheek to cheek. Chloe’s hand fits so perfectly in hers and Beca feels immediately safe. Chloe lifts her arm, letting her spin underneath it, before pulling her back in and swaying them to the beat.

“I feel like I’m in a dream”. Chloe’s voice is barely a whisper, her lips ghosting against Beca’s jaw as she makes her confession.

“Me too. But it’s real. I… I’ve wanted this for so long. I’m sorry I couldn’t be braver before.”

Chloe’s eyes meet hers, her feet slowing to a stop. “You’re the bravest person I know. Especially tonight. It… it was perfect, Beca. Everything about it.”

“Sure?”

As she tilts her head, Chloe nods gently. Pulling Beca closer, she presses her lips gently against the corner of her mouth. Her kisses trail down, Beca chasing until she meets her lips. It’s soft, sweet, and slow. There is no rush. Not know they know they have one another.

Not now they know they have forever to do this.

“Ease my troubles, that’s what you do.” Beca can’t help the way Chloe makes her want to sing. The final line of the song are whispered close to her ear, so close that Beca can breathe in the scent of the perfume she has known and loved for over four, long years.

“I genuinely don’t think I ever imagined you’d be this smooth in person” Chloe laughs, still standing impossibly close to Beca even though the song has ended. “You’re surprising me.”

Beca can’t help but shake her head. “I, ah, I’ve had a lot of extra courage tonight. Maybe I’ll be less smooth once that wears off. Or, maybe, this is all because you bring it out in me.”

“You need to stop now” Chloe’s smile is at odds with her warning tone. “It… it’s always been hard for me to sit back and watch you be your amazing self and hold all of this stuff inside. Now… now you’re saying all these things- things I never thought I’d hear you say- and it makes it so hard not to just kiss you and never stop.”

Beca is smiling as she leans in close. Her lips are just grazing Chloe’s when she looks into her eyes.

“Then don’t stop.”


End file.
